Lewis becomes champion, Max Verstappen will be
ing and tyre wear, Verstappen flew solo in front. At the end, after his woebegone teammate Ricciardo faced yet another retirement, Verstappen enquired if he should turn his engine “way down”.
His tone is often coloured with the earned entitlement of those who keep themselves out of reach.
Speaking of the insurmountable, Lewis Hamilton now has five world championships. That is a staggering number, as many as Ayrton Senna and Fernando Alonso put together. He is driving better than ever.
Hamilton deserves this 2018 title not only for the races he dominated, but more for the ones where he — against all odds — exercised incredible damage control, racking up podiums and vital points.
Title rival Sebastian Vettel floundered with unforced errors, and here’s the brutal truth: despite having an occasionally faster Ferrari, he couldn’t drive home the advantage the way Hamilton would have. He didn’t bring the hammer down.
With Hamilton appearing bulletproof on track, the question of him equalling or even surpassing Michael Schumacher’s 7 titles is being asked, and it truly isn’t beyond reach. The last time we considered that tally under threat was five years ago, when Vettel won his fourth consecutive championship. In the next two years, Mercedes and Ferrari are likely to still hold a competitive advantage, and this is when both Hamilton and Vettel need to maximise their chances and wins. That 21-year-old won’t be waiting around for long.